almirall

35% of the total patent applications in Spain in 2016 were submitted in Catalonia, totalling 547. This figure is 5.5% higher than that registered in 2015, according to the last European Patent Office (EPO) report. Madrid ranked second with 321 applications, 11% less than the previous year. The three main entities which submitted patent applications in Barcelona were Esteve Laboratory, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona and the Almirall pharmaceutical company. The number of patent Applications in the whole of Spain totalled 1,558 in 2016, contributing only 1% to the world total, which is led by the United States. If Catalonia were a country, it would be number 23 in the world ranking, ahead of Norway, Turkey, Luxembourg and Singapore amongst others.

The Catalan Government will offer to host the European Medicines Agency’s headquarters, which is currently in London. The body, which is responsible for the scientific evaluation, supervision and safety monitoring of medicines developed by pharmaceutical companies for use in the EU, is looking for a new location after ‘Brexit’ and the Generalitat will defend Catalonia’s “potential in the pharmaceutical and biomedical sector” for Catalonia to become the agency’s new home. Indeed, in the nineties the Catalan Government already presented a “very solid portfolio” to house the European Medicines Agency, which was ultimately located in London’s Canary Wharf financial district. According to sources interviewed by CNA, Catalonia is now “racing” with other countries which have also presented their candidacies, such as Sweden, Denmark and Italy.

On Wednesday the Catalan pharmaceutical company Almirall announced that they have sold the rights to their respiratory subsidiary to the British-Swedish company AstraZeneca for the initial value of €653 million ($875 million), to be paid when signing the deal. Then, further payments could reach up to an additional €910 million ($1.22 billion), depending on the AstraZeneca's success in product development, new product launches and sales. This news comes after Almirall announced a €19.1 million net profit in the first two quarters of this year, an 8.5% increase from the same period last year. With this new operation it is expected that "a significant number" of employees from the Catalan company's respiratory subsidiary will be transferred to AstraZeneca.

The management of Barcelona-based Almirall pharmaceutical multinational and trade unions have signed an agreement on Monday, reducing the initially planned number of laid-off employees from 250 to 180. The document, which has mostly been ratified in production and research centres in Greater Barcelona as well as by the marketing network, also provides specific compensations for the workers aged 55 years and over, and the maximum compensations set by the law for the rest of the laid-off staff. According to the General Workers Union (UGT), 30% of the laid-off employees will correspond to voluntary redundancies, which will be proportionally distributed among the different groups of workers.

Catalan pharmaceutical company Almirall has announced on Tuesday it will buy Aqua Pharmaceuticals, an American company specialised in dermatological treatments. The $328 million transaction reflects the Catalan multinational’s strategy to diversify its activities, by establishing itself in a sector that will be a “key platform for growth”. Aqua Pharmaceuticals has a portfolio of well known brands for treating acne and skin rashes. This year the total sales of the American company’s products are expected to generate $127 million. According to a statement to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), Almirall intends to continue employing the same Aqua management team, to benefit from their experience in the U.S. market.